Recent years have witnessed a growing need for increased power in a satellite bus so that a mounted device such as a large communication device can be mounted on the satellite bus. The power of a satellite bus can be increased by improving the conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic cell and the charging/discharging efficiency of a battery. Moreover, a power generation technique employing a thermoelectric conversion module that can generate power using a temperature difference between a high temperature side module front surface and a low temperature side module rear surface has come to attention as a method of increasing the power of a satellite bus (see PTL 1, for example).
More specifically, PTL 1 discloses a technique in which a thermoelectric conversion module is adhered to a heat dissipating surface of a spacecraft so as to generate power using a temperature difference between a high temperature side module front surface contacting the heat dissipating surface and a low temperature side module rear surface contacting cold air from outer space, outer space being an ultra-low temperature environment. PTL 1 also discloses a technique in which the thermoelectric conversion module is adhered to a mounted device attachment surface of the spacecraft so as to generate power using a temperature difference between the high temperature side module front surface, which contacts a mounted device that generates heat when operative, and the low temperature side module rear surface, which contacts a panel main body.